The man who is now to be Prime Minister of Iraq is, you will be amazed to learn, an ex-Ba'athist. The coalition has been complaining for some time that there were former Ba'athists seeking power in Iraq, but I would not have expected them to go so far as to prove themselves right. Dr Iyad Allawi, as he styles himself, also has a history of connections to CIA and MI6. Unsurprisingly, therefore, he has also been a prime source of hoax material leaked onto media legs like that of the inestimable Con Coughlin of the Sunday Telegraph.

He is, we learn, responsible for the "45 minute claim". One assumes he has had his fingers in a few other cow-pies as well. And why has he been nominated as Iraq's new Prime Minister. Perhaps it is because of the support he has "on the ground" as they say on high. But, as The Independent reports:

There were few signs that they had any popular support. During an uprising in the town of Baiji, north of Baghdad, last year, crowds immediately set fire to the INA office.

Hint - if the people in the country you are seeking to rule burn down your offices, I would go look for a different country. Just a thought.